Snow?!

If winter comes, can spring be far behind? ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Yes, in fact, if winter comes less than one month into fall. As if I needed another reason to hope and pray for Nashville, Mother Nature went ahead and dumped a couple of inches of snow on State College in the middle of October. Tennessee never looked so good.

It was mild Thursday morning when I dashed off to class at 9:30 a.m. Rainy, but not very cold. Flash forward to 11-something: I turn my head to look out the window during my tissue engineering class and find snowflakes. Not flurries, but fat, healthy snowflakes. What. In. The. World. And it doesn't stop!

One of my fellow ushers for the Carbon Leaf & Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers show that night works for Accuweather (he was a Penn State meteorology grad from the '70s), and he told me it was the earliest snowfall on record for State College. Ain't record-breaking weather grand?

The weather couldn't get me down, though, because the show was one of the best I've been to, if not the best. And I hadn't even heard anything from Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers before! The combination of a wonderfully energetic audience, ridiculously talented musicians with great stage presence, and, I'll admit it, not having to pay anything to be there, made for an excellent night. I downloaded a couple of songs later; I have no complaints, but both bands are definitely better live. Which really isn't the case too often nowadays.

I'm looking forward to ushering for the Pete Yorn show at the end of October, but I am most excited about the Jonny Lang show in November. The State Theatre has a gift for bringing artists I enjoy.

I did not get nearly enough actual work done today, but I did go see Where The Wild Things Are with Dan and Fred, who still didn't have power at their house. (Another reason to dislike the weather!) I know I liked the movie, but I can't quite explain why. I think part of it is because I was already enamored with the soundtrack. The movie itself was emotionally stirring, beautifully done, but there was more to my liking it than that... some je ne sais quoi. I'd recommend it, but not for kids. I can't imagine taking Flip to see it. He'd probably freak out. Then again, he's probably younger than the intended audience, anyway.

All in all, it's been a great week/weekend. Here's a question, though: why didn't anyone come back for Homecoming? Not accusing, just wondering. I guess I understand it, as I probably won't come back next year, either. Kim's visiting next weekend, though, so that will be nice, even if she won't be joining us for the Brad Paisley concert.

Now that I think about it, I've been marking time this whole semester by the movies and shows I've seen or am going to see. There could definitely be worst ways to do it. Maybe it'll make the winter a little more bearable.